Next in my Master The Basic series is Volume. When strength training it’s often stated that you should progress with load or volume. But what is volume? Is it more than just adding a rep to an exercise?

You can look at Volume from a few angles.

Set volume – when you are training intending to build strength or add muscle, your focus should be on accumulating enough “hard work” on the muscle to create a stimulus to adapt to. Mechanical tension and metabolic stress are two aspects of how you progress. 

Looking at your training program, if you group all your exercises into their categories of a squat, hinge, push and pull, then look at how many sets you perform on each pattern. The only sets that count are the challenging sets that push you close to, or to failure. Now you know your total set volume per movement pattern, the aim is to have around 8-10 sets for each. You can go higher in set volume (up to 14-16 sets) if you are trying to focus on a particular body part. Note: potentially, anything over 20 sets might be taking you to the point of diminishing returns.

Volume-load is another way of looking at volume. Volume-load is calculated by: the weight you lift multiplied by the reps performed, then all the sets on that exercise added up. Volume-load is excellent because you can see how much you progress in total per exercise in a session. This information can help ensure you are not over or underperforming in your training.

Set volume is about the overall session build to ensure your program is optimal, whereas volume load gives you session-by-session information to track your progress.

If you feel like you do not see the results your efforts deserve, then paying attention to volume could be the key to seeing results.

Stay tuned next week for another instalment of Master the Basics and don’t forget to follow me on Instagram where I share exercise techniques, and show you how to maximise your training. I hope you enjoyed this blog post, if you have any questions I host a weekly Sunday Q&A session on my Instagram channel. Otherwise, please feel free to email me at andy@andyvincentpt.com. 

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